Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

Life has been tough for eleven-year-old Aubrey since her father and little sister died in a car accident, especially when her mother, depressed and grief-stricken, simply walks out and leaves Aubrey in the house on her own. Fortunately, Aubrey's grandmother comes to the rescue and brings Aubrey back to Vermont, where Aubrey finds a good friend in neighbor Bridget and begins to settle in. She still desperately misses her family, both the living and the dead, though, and when her mother does reemerge, Aubrey faces a difficult choice—stay with her grandmother or return to the woman who left her behind? This is a sensitively written story, particularly understanding in its acknowledgment of how important a non-blood family can be (Aubrey and Gran are essentially part of Bridget's family as well as their own). Though there's a little too much going on with Aubrey's letters (initially to her sister's imaginary friend) on top of flashbacks on top of current exposition, it all focuses on the same issue, Aubrey's agony about being left behind by not only the dead but the living. Her gradual recovery of her stability and herself is tenderly [End Page 27] told, and it's believable that she realizes that that stability, not her dream of being wanted by her mother, is what's important. Fans of family dramas and near-orphan tales will be moved by Audrey's poignant story.